DNREC YouTube video details Mispillion Harbor Restoration

Wednesday

May 17, 2017 at 5:30 PM

Submitted News

A video premiering on the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control’s YouTube Channel is providing a look at ongoing beach restoration work to restore and protect wildlife habitat along the shoreline at Mispillion Harbor on Delaware’s Bayshore east of Milford.

The video tells of ecological work done to perpetuate an annual, internationally-known Delaware spectacle that also is unique to North America. Every spring, Delaware’s central Bayshore, with the Mispillion Harbor as its epicenter, hosts thousands of migrating shorebirds — including the threatened red knot — stopping to refuel on their journey to their Arctic breeding grounds. Their arrival coincides with another annual rite of spring: thousands of spawning horseshoe crabs coming ashore to lay their eggs on Bayshore beaches. These eggs provide the feast for the hungry shorebirds before continuing their flight.

Hurricane Sandy and other coastal storms have taken a toll on the beaches where these two species meet, eroding away habitat. To rebuild these beaches at Mispillion Harbor and to protect this area from future storm events, DNREC’s restoration work includes construction of a 1,700-foot-long stone dike to absorb erosive wave action and adding 30,000 cubic yards of sand to restore the beaches tucked behind it.

To view “Mispillion Harbor Restoration” and other DNREC videos on YouTube, visit youtube.com/delawarednrec.